Castle
by Kosaa33640
Summary: AU / Instead of taking the girls back to the Academy, Dimitri Belikov takes them back to Royal Court to continue their education by private tutors
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note**

Hello, lovely readers! I'm Kosaa, and I just wanted to add a little explanation before this lovely little fic right here. I started writing this fic a year or so ago for NaNoWriMo, but ultimately ended up falling out of practice with it. I attempted again this year (2017), although fell short of the mark as well. As it stands, I do really want to write this, so hopefully I can keep the motivation up. The chapters will be short, only around 1,667 words or so each. If this fic ends before I reach 50,000, then so be it. I have the entire series planned.

That being said, this series takes place in the Vampire Academy universe created by Richelle Meade. It is inspired by the Badlands album by Halsey. Each fic is based on a song from the album. This is Castle

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I felt her fear before I heard her scream. Her shrill voice along with the crunching of metal shook through whatever formerly pleasant dream I had been having before I was pulled into her own. The accident had happened over two years ago, but I knew my best friend would never get over the loss of her family. Time heals wounds pretty well, but I didn't think that any amount of time could ever heal what we went through.

I launched myself out of bed, reminding myself that she was the one having the nightmare, not me. I grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her, maybe a little harder than I should have, but it got the job done. Her jade eyes flew open, still in a panic, until they locked onto mine. "It's okay, Liss, I'm here," I reassured her. She sat up and immediately leaned in toward me, and I wrapped her in an embrace without even thinking. Her breath was uneven as she fought back sobs, and I simply stroked her hair as I waited for her to gather herself.

"It was the crash," she whispered. I nodded, pressing my face into her hair. "Andre…oh god…" I knew she felt bad that the last thing she said to her brother had been argumentative, but we had no way of knowing what was going to happen next. The deer had come out of nowhere, and even with the guardian's quick reflexes, he couldn't correct the car in time.

"We're here now, yeah?" I whispered, stroking her platinum hair. Her breathing slowly evened out and she pulled away from me ever so slightly to look me in the eye. Her jade eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot from crying and exhaustion, and her normally pale skin looked almost translucent. "We made it out of that car, and we're okay. We're okay, Lissa. We're here now, and nothing's ever going to take us apart." She nodded slowly, and I gave her a hard look so that she would know that she had better believe my words. I would spend the rest of my life protecting her, I would probably end up giving my life to protect her, but nightmares were the things I couldn't protect her against. I couldn't punch a dream.

"It's still so horrible," she said. She leaned back against the headboard, steadying herself against the wall while she grounded herself in reality. "It's still so vivid. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so…"

"Detailed?" I suggested. "Memories are supposed to fade, and things are supposed to change each time you remember them. Like you're just remembering what happened the last time you remembered it. It's not supposed to be going back and living in that moment." She had no answer for me, but simply nodded, wincing at the movement. I sprang forward, positioning myself closer to her so that I could inspect her for any incurred damage.

"What was that?" I asked quickly, my hand reaching out for her without a second thought. Lissa brushed my hand away feebly, murmuring something about a headache. "Do you want me to go get you some Ibuprofen?" She gently shook her head no, before I realized the next possible problem. "Are you hungry?" She didn't answer, either positively or negatively, and I knew even without her answering. She would never be honest, especially not when she knew where the source would come from. As a Moroi, Lissa's main source of sustenance was blood. Although she could and regularly did eat human food, it wasn't anywhere near enough to satiate her. As a dhampir, half-Moroi and half-human, I got all the perks of the vampire side of my lineage without the drawback of needing blood. Often times, dhampir ate easily twice the amount as their charges. "I'll be right back."

I stood and left the room, pausing at the door to give her a backwards glance to make sure she was alright before making my way into the kitchen. Shortly after we moved in, I made it a point to map out the entire house to the step so that I knew my way around in the dark, even with my advanced eyesight. By the time I returned to the bedroom with a glass of water in hand, Lissa was sitting up and looking much more awake, with a few tissues in hand to clean up after the feeding. I sat down on the bed beside her, brushing my hair over one shoulder to expose my neck to her. She flashed me a guilty look, one that lasted only a second before her lithe frame bent over to cover the distance between her mouth and my exposed skin.

There was a brief moment of pain while her carefully-hidden fangs pierced my skin, followed by the rush of endorphins that Moroi released into those they fed from. Until we left the Academy, I used to think that dhampir letting Moroi feed off them was dirty, one of the worst things that our two species could do. Of course we needed each other to survive, but Moroi had human feeders for a reason. If anyone in the Moroi world found out what I had been letting Lissa do, I would for sure be outcast in a second.

In this moment, though, none of that mattered. While she fed on my blood, I felt sunlight coming back in return. Letting a Moroi feed off you was one of the best highs imaginable, and something that anyone could easily get addicted to. The possible addiction was only one of the reasons that we kept the feedings infrequent. It lasted only seconds, but even when Lissa pulled away and wiped a drop of my blood from her lips, the flow of endorphins broke off, but that didn't stop them from continuing to rattle around in my bloodstream. They were meant to take away the pain of the bite, and to give the feeder some sort of pleasure in exchange for their service. Even though she was stronger after she fed, I was weaker. We did what we had to do to keep both of us alive, but it always meant that one of us was the weaker for it. I had to be strong enough to protect her, but she had to have the strength to keep up with me.

It was a fine line we walked, feeding only every two or three days. In normal Moroi society, they saw the feeders daily. We couldn't afford me to be that weak. If there was a threat made to Lissa, I had to be able to fight it. Still, nothing could beat the look on my best friend's face while she was at full strength. All Moroi were capable of being supermodels, with their tall, thin frames and porcelain skin, I liked to think that my Moroi would be even better suited to the task.

As the brunt of the endorphins wore off, I realized that I'd fallen back against her bed, holding a tissue to the bite marks she left on my neck. They never bled a lot, but there was always a period of time that it could happen. I sat up from the bed and stared out the window, willing my vision to focus on something so that I could ground myself in reality again. I didn't know where Lissa had gone, but I knew she couldn't have wandered far.

Across the street, a streetlamp flickered to life, and for the briefest moment I thought I saw someone disappear behind a parked car. I lurched to my feet, suddenly afraid that we might have been seen. To an outside observer, to a simple peeping tom, it could appear that Lissa and I were lovers. We did share a room, and feeding was an intimate affair. There was motion behind the car again, and I caught view of the man who had indeed been watching us as he gave some sort of signal.

"Shit."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

Hello again! Welcome to chapter two! I'm going to try and update this weekly, so even if I fall behind on the daily word count, I'll still have something for you lovely readers weekly! Even though I did mention I have things planned, I don't have all the details mapped out. I'll need some help from you! What are some events of Vampire Academy that you absolutely must have in Castle? Happy reading!

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Lissa ran back into the room, her eyes wide. "No time for explanations. Let's go." I reached for the bags that we always had packed and tossed one to her, barely taking the time to shove my sockless feet into a pair of shoes. She obeyed wordlessly, shouldering her bag without questioning me. We had gone through this drill enough times to know that whatever I said was the gospel. With the endorphins still coursing through my veins, my movements were not as quiet and graceful as I could have been, but we had to use speed to our advantage. We already lost steal, so our best bet was to get out of there as fast as we could.

With all the noise we were making as we grabbed a few last-minute things, it was inevitable that we would wake our housemate, the college boy we compelled to allow us to stay in his house free of charge. Without my say so, Lissa positioned herself in front of him and looked him straight in the eye. "Jeremy, where are your keys?" she asked sweetly.

"In the dish on the counter." He was completely compliant, without asking a single question.

"You gave us your car. We have a family emergency, and you thought it was the least you could do. We had to leave right away. You probably won't even remember us that well. We were quiet, and we weren't around much." She darted forward to give him an innocent peck on the cheek, blushing as she did, before I grabbed for the keys with one hand and gripped her wrist with the other. I pulled her out the backdoor, not even noticing that she was still barefoot. My head spun from the endorphins and the adrenalin, but that didn't stop me from making a mad dash to wear Jeremy parked his car. It was only a few blocks away, but I knew the guardian across the street had heard the back door bang as we made our way out of the house.

As we ran, I wasn't sure who was supporting whom. Lissa and I ran with one arm wrapped around each other's waist, simultaneously keeping pace and holding each other back. Neither of us were at our strongest, and normally it should have been me keeping her upright. I was pretty sure she was my center of balance. Before we could even reach the green Honda, a tall figure stepped out from behind it, blocking off our escape route. I felt Lissa's arm drop from around my waist and I used the one still around hers to shove her behind me. I spun around, keeping her behind me, her arms snaking out to catch my waist as I felt my balance pitch to see that there were two other guardians blocking the road we had just come from. Effectively, they had us surrounded.

"Stay away from her." I barely recognized my own voice. It was haggard from running, and came out at almost a growl. My head oscillated between the first guardian I had seen and the pair that cut us off from our escape plan, unsure who the bigger threat was. Quite literally, the initial guardian was the biggest; his height rivalled even Moroi, and I took him to be the leader of the group. Ever so slowly, the three of them began moving forward in almost perfect synch, trapping us against the trunk of the car. I backed up until Lissa was pressed against the car, my body barely shielding hers from the advancing guardians. "Stay back! Don't hurt her!"

"Nobody is going to hurt the princess." The leader spoke with a foreign accent, although I couldn't quite place it. It was much softer than I would have expected, but he still meant business. I could see three more guardians emerge from hiding places, eyes trained on the leader for any order to move. A total of six guardians tracked us down, more than the queen herself traveled with.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, keeping my body firmly between my best friend and the guardians. "What do you want from us?"

"My name is Dimitri Belikov," the leader said. "I have been tasked with restoring the princess to safety."

"Bad news, Belikov," I hissed. "In order to get to your precious princess, you're going to have to go through me." I launched myself at him, pulling my hand back to deliver a well-aimed punch, just before he extended his arm and caught me square in the chest, knocking me back. My center of gravity was off, and I could feel myself rushing toward the pavement and what would be a hard collision. Or would have been, had he not reached out with his other arm to quickly grab me and set me to rights. I struggled in his grasp, but I heard a light voice call my name behind me. The fear was still evident in her voice, but she was raised to trust guardians, even if it went against what I said. Fifteen years of conditioning outweighed two years of fear.

"Rose, it's okay," she said softly. "It's okay. We'll be okay."

I couldn't believe her. Not in this. If he was instructed to take us back to safety, he would be taking us back to the Academy. There was no safety there, only a bigger threat than what we faced out here. We ran away because no one believed us, everyone thought there was no danger. The Academies were supposed to be a safe space, somewhere that parents could send their kids without fear. Moroi civilizations were often regarded as private colleges or well-to-do cities. Some of them preferred to intermingle with humans, and others preferred to live at the Royal Court where they could operate on the more comfortable nocturnal schedule.

"You're not taking us back to the Academy," I stubbornly insisted, staring up at the guardian who held me captive. "If you think that's safe, then you've got several things coming."

"I am not taking you back to the Academy," he said. He turned me in his grasp and released me, for the most part. One hand remained on my shoulder, making it clear that if I did not cooperate, he would have no problems about making me move. He led the way a few blocks down, where three black SUVs were parked on the side of the road. I stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk, a move he just barely caught me from. My hair fell away from my neck and his eyes flashed downward at the movement, no doubt catching the bites that had yet to heal. "Are you stable enough to walk without assistance?"

I nodded slowly, scratching the side of my neck and wincing as my fingertips came away sticky with blood. I hastily wiped my hand on my jeans, glancing back over my shoulder at Lissa. Now I knew that he had been watching long enough to see that I had let Lissa feed from me. Before he saw the marks, he could have easily have assumed the alternative, and I think I would rather prefer that. Giving blood wasn't something I was happy about, but as long as it kept Lissa alive, then I was willing to do it. I didn't want to feel ashamed for what I had done to keep my Moroi alive.

"We have three vehicles. Due to the successful extraction of both the princess and the novice, there will be three guardians in the first car, and two in the third. I shall keep the princess and novice with me. The lead car knows the directions to the airport. The jet is on standby, and we will be taking off as soon as the tower is ready for us." His accented words were clipped as he stated the plan of action to everyone in the group. I bristled at the fact that he talked about Lissa and me like we were objects, not people, until I realized that's exactly how he thought of us.

We were targets. He was on a mission to retrieve us, and that's what he did. After he had us in easy reach and had returned us to safety, whatever he meant by that, he could wash his hands of us completely. It made me sick to think that a guardian, someone who would dedicate their lives to ensuring the survival of the race that created us, would think of one anyone like that. Better than anyone, guardians should know what it's like to be treated as subhuman.

When we finally reached the SUVs and all three drivers unlocked the vehicles, I patted the pocket of my sweatshirt before I realized that I had no idea where the keys to Jeremy's Honda went. Considering he might have forgotten he even had a car, or thought that it was gone for good, I wasn't too concerned about it. Belikov opened the back door so that Lissa could slide in, but held me back from following her as he closed the door. "Front seat," he insisted, gesturing to the passenger seat. "I want to be able to watch you." Under any other circumstances, it might have sounded sinister, but it was clear that he wanted to be able to ensure that we weren't planning to attack him on the drive. Not that we were, I was sure neither one of us wanted to endure another car crash that may or may not result in the loss of lives, but he wasn't so convinced.

I slid into the passenger seat, immediately relaxing against the leather interior. It didn't dawn on me until later that the cars were way too nice to be Academy issued. There was no way these would have fit into the budget. Not that I knew anything about cars, but I knew that these must be expensive. There were only a few moments after he got in the car and started the ignition that we idled, before the lead driver took off and Belikov guided the second car to follow suit.

There was no conversation to be had. I could feel Lissa's fear radiating through the bond, and I wanted more than anything to reach back and reassure her that things were going to be okay. Any movement I made was caught in the corner of Belikov's eye and his frown deepened, causing me to clamp my hands together in my lap. He couldn't stop my gaze from flicking back to Lissa in the rearview mirror, and it did so frequently. I tried to be aware of everything, from the scenery we quickly passed to my best friend in the backseat, but the events of the night eventually caught up to me, and my head fell against the cool glass of the window, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**

Hello! Sorry for the late update, but since chapter 2, I've moved! It was pretty sudden, and my writing time has been severely impaired. I'll do my best to get back on that daily writing grind, but I've hit a small wall. I also wanted to address a common theme in the reviews: chapter length. I've been writing this as I would for NaNo, with the intent of writing a chapter a day. Unfortunately, this leads to shorter chapters. If I can't hit word count a particular day, it throws everything off and leads to late updates like this. Since you all want longer updates, I'll leave it up to you. Which would you prefer more? **1,500 word weekly updates** or **Longer updates every other week**?

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When I awoke, it was as our small convoy was pulling into the airport parking lot. There was a small private jet that was waiting, one that I knew was for us. It was not the Academy's jet, as promised by his proclamation that we were not returning to the Academy, but undoubtedly one that belonged to whoever sent this party of guardians to find us out. As all three cars parked, Lissa and I were ushered out of the car and, hand in hand, followed the guardians toward our destination.

Considering we only had a small bag of essentials for each of us, there wasn't much in way of baggage. Miraculously, we didn't have to deal with any form of security. Even on the occasions that the Academy students went to Court, we still had to deal with as much security as at any human airport. We passed through quickly, and were on board the plane in less than twenty minutes. Once we were, the guardians insisted on separating us. I suppose it was going along with Belikov's earlier caution, making sure that we couldn't do anything against them, but there was still no use.

He escorted Lissa to the back of the plane and sat down beside her, his rigid movements the only indication that he was uncomfortable. Lissa still clutched her bag tight with fear, although I could see that she was trying to present her royal front. She didn't want to appear the frightened girl that she was, but her terror overtook her. My instinct was to run back and assure her everything would be alright, but the guardian that stopped me at my seat made it clear that there would be no way for me to do so. No matter how much I wanted to, I would not reach her part of the plane.

I settled into my seat, tucking my bag between my body and the wall. It would prove to be poor support later, but it slightly better than the alternative. I pulled my hair over my shoulders, hiding my neck from anyone who might pass, but aside from ensuring that I stayed in my place, they all gave me space. Honestly, it seemed like nobody wanted to be close to me for any longer than they had to. It wasn't until the plane took off and we were free to move about the cabin, as the pilot claimed, that I noticed somebody at my side.

"Were you really going to attack all of us?" I didn't have to look to know who the voice belonged to. The accent gave it away. I lifted my gaze to stare at the nothingness through the window, but said nothing. Taking my silence for an answer, he continued. "Doing that…protecting her like that – it was very brave. Stupid, but still brave. Why did you even try it?"

Was he that stupid? Did he really believe that I would let anyone – anything – come between my best friend and me? Would I let something happen to her? I turned to him suddenly, fixing him with a hard look. "Because I'm her guardian." I turned back to the window, signifying that I was done with this conversation. With any luck, he'd respect that. He sat next to me for a minute longer, either unsure of what to say or mistakenly thinking that he'd get anything else out of me. When he finally left my" side – presumably to return to Lissa's – I felt my body relax.

I wanted to hate the guardians for picking us up and "returning us to safety" as he put it. I hated that they couldn't understand what we were running from. I hated that we couldn't understand what we were running from. I hated that nobody took us seriously. It wasn't just nightmares and post-traumatic stress from the accident. It wasn't just teenage rebellion. We weren't simply being reckless and irresponsible. I had promised from the start that I would protect Lissa, that I would die for her if it kept her safe, and I did what I had to do to make sure that she was. As much as I wanted to hate them, I knew they were doing their jobs. Guardians had to follow orders. I could hate whoever gave the order as much as I wanted, though.

It was still dark when we began our descent, but the light pollution gave our destination away. The Royal Court of Moroi Order was located in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. To the human world, it was a prestigious private college. In our reality, it was one of the largest centers of Moroi life in the world. It was a small city, surrounded by magical wards to keep Strigoi out and the Moroi safe. The wards were invisible, but they were an integral part of society's safety.

As soon as the plane touched down, the guardians took to action quickly. Three of them split from the group and escorted Lissa from the plane, while the other three and I followed after. There was a similar security check coming off the plane as there had been getting on, with the addition of a stop at the security post. As we approached, I could hear the names, ages, and titles of everyone in the group. I was the last to be mentioned, and the only one without a title. The fact stung. Even Lissa got a title, and I was just Rosemarie Hathaway, age 17, dhampir.

After we passed through security, we were escorted to one of the buildings in the government sector. Court was neatly separated into districts, with the queen's palace in the center. Everything was built in old brick and reminded me of older style universities. It was easy to see how it would be mistaken as one. Despite the ancient brickwork on the outside, the interior was all very modern. The Moroi were exceptionally talented at preserving history and simultaneously pushing forward with technological advances. Court was the height of Moroi civilization, and they kept it decorated as such.

Even the sparse government buildings were highly decorated. There wasn't much, but everything gave off an air of expensive taste. Being a dhampir building, it was significantly less grand than any the Moroi were in, but it didn't seem like the guardians minded. They preferred things being functional over pretty. We were led down a hall lined with marble pillars and pictures of guardians who had made significant achievements until we got to the Head of the Guardian Council's office. Belikov breezed past the door without so much as knocking before entering.

"Ah, Belikov." The guardian behind the desk was one of the shortest and stockiest I'd ever seen, although I knew that meant nothing. If he was on the council, it meant that he knew his shit. I had to respect that, whether or not I actually liked the man.

"Guardian Croft," Belikov said shortly. "You requested to see them both?"

Croft nodded curtly, not rising from his desk. "As much as I would like to begin this meeting, we are waiting on a few others. In the meantime, have a seat." The invitation was merely a formality, but one he saw necessary to observe. Lissa looked at me before she took a seat, and I sat in the chair next to her. Belikov and one of the guardians that was along on the mission stood on either side of the door. I hadn't noticed the other four break off from the party, which was a stupid move on my part. Of course, we were at court, but if I wanted to convince everyone that I was serious about being a guardian, then I couldn't afford things like that to slip my mind.

We were sitting in tense silence for ten minutes before the final few individuals joined us in the cramped office. The first two Moroi through the door were completely unfamiliar to me, but I recognized the third through the whirlwind of blonde hair that launched herself in his direction. In all her eagerness, she still embraced the frail man carefully and pulled away to glance him over to ensure she hadn't hurt him.

"Uncle Victor," she breathed finally. Two more guardians followed him into the office, pulling up a third chair on the other side of Lissa for the man to sit.

"Prince Dashkov," I nodded. He wasn't really an uncle, not in the traditional sense. While the Dashkov and Dragomir families were close, and Victor had been a particular friend of Lissa's dad, the titles were more honorary. Victor was Lissa's uncle in the same way that I was her sister.

"I'm so happy to see that you are both safe," Victor said after sitting down. Lissa's worried expression lessened, but I could tell that so long as Victor was around, her features would never completely relax. He was only in his forties, but he looked easily twice that. Even with a boosted immune system, Moroi were not completely exempt from chronic diseases. They typically lived long lives, longer than humans for sure, but Victor's particular ailment would kill him well before even most humans would. "I was quite worried about the both of you. I did promise your parents I would look after you, Vasilisa."

Lissa looked down shamefully at her hands clasped in her lap, while I bit my lip. The disappointment in Victor's voice was clear, and it hurt, especially since he'd been nothing but kind to us. After Lissa's parents died, he and his daughter were there for us the entire way. Running away may not have physically hurt him, but I'm sure the stress and worry didn't help anything at all.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get started." For the first time, Croft stood up from behind his desk and I got his full image. He wasn't in his black and whites, but he still commanded respect without even opening his mouth. He was short, even for a dhampir, but I could see that he possessed a lot of strength. "As Prince Dashkov mentioned, it is remarkable that Guardian Belikov managed to find you both safely and bring you back here. The fact that he managed to do it in the space of a few short months is equally commendable." I glanced back at him, but if he heard the praise he gave no note of it. He was in full guardian mode, and that was enough to set me on edge. "There was a lot of discourse over what would happen after your retrieval. Of course, Vasilisa will need to continue her education, but as for Rosemarie…" He turned to me, fixing me with a hard stare as his perpetual frown deepened. "As a novice, you are seen as an expendable resource. Due to your delinquent record from the academy, you have been expelled. You will not be continuing your education at Saint Vladimir's Academy."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**

Hey guys! Huge shoutout to lovesmesomedanilalol for letting me know there were some issues with my previous version of this chapter! I also didn't get much feedback on Chapter 3, so I'm just going to go ahead and keep up with the shorter, weekly updates. I had a lot of fun with this update, and I'm personally definitely looking forward to next week's!

* * *

I'm not really sure what I was expecting. There was an audible silence, like everyone was waiting to see my reaction. I simply stared ahead at Croft, waiting for him to explain further. He wasn't serious, I had to go back to the academy. It sucked, but wasn't that why Belikov and his team were sent to capture us? They were supposed to drag us back to the academy we ran away from, back to the threat I saved Lissa from.

"You're joking." Croft didn't seem like the man to joke, but he couldn't be serious about me not going back. "No, I have to go back. If Lissa's going back, I'm going, too. I'm her guardian. I have to be with her."

"Quite frankly, Miss Hathaway, you're not her guardian. You're not even a guardian. Better guardians get fired for putting their charge in less danger." He spoke harshly, and for a moment I wanted to pull the age card. Maybe speaking like this to a promised guardian would be acceptable, but I was seventeen.

"Better guardians get fired for doing what they have to do to protect their charge?" I challenged. "God, you make it sound like it's a warzone out there. It's not as bad as you think. We were gone for two years, and we hadn't encountered a single Strigoi."

"It is a warzone," Hans insisted. "Just because you didn't encounter Strigoi, just because you got lucky, doesn't mean anything, Miss Hathaway. What would have happened if you would have come across one?"

"I would have fought it." I answered it like it was the easiest question in the world, and honestly, it was. If there was ever a fight between something and Lissa's life, I would try my damnedest to make sure that my best friend escaped the scenario alive. If we would have come across Strigoi in Portland, or in Chicago, or anywhere else we were, I would have died if it meant that Lissa would live. I could die knowing that I did everything I could to keep her safe.

"And lost." For the first time in a while, Belikov spoke up from the back of the room. Disappointment was evident in his voice, and I frowned. What did he have to be disappointed over? Just before I turned to look back at him, Croft spoke again.

"Be that as it may, there is no way that you can return to St. Vladimir's. I'm sorry, Miss Hathaway, but Headmistress Kirova made it abundantly clear that you do not have the respect or dedication to graduate." His tone implied that he was anything but sorry, but something about his eyes gave him away that he was not the heartless man he put up to be.

"There has to be some other way," I pressed. My gaze was still locked on Croft, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see others finally stirring. Lissa was just as shocked as I was, her back ramrod straight as she schooled her features to remain impassive. She was trying to keep up her royal front, to not appear weak in front of all these people. When I finally looked away from the head guardian, I saw Victor staring down, his mouth a hard line. Three of the other guardians in the room looked properly detached, with only Belikov's eyes sparking some reaction.

"They have the bond," he said suddenly. The hush that had fallen over everyone in the room was suddenly replaced with a rush of energy that accompanied the news. "In my brief observation period, Miss Hathaway could tell what Vasilisa was thinking or feeling, sometimes without being in the same place." I silently begged him to shut up.

"A rare and wondrous gift." Victor's voice was reverent, and for the first time in a while, he almost seemed his age. He suddenly didn't seem quite as tried and exhausted, but truly alive. We had worked so hard to keep the bond a secret, unaware of how it worked, it was strange for the knowledge to be out in the open.

"It hasn't happened in centuries," Hans said. "Are you sure? They're very close. It's entirely possible that Rosemarie just guessed what Vasilisa was feeling. They were in a lot of similar situations, it's not unrealistic that they would be feeling similar emotions."

"All the best guardians had the bond, in the stories." While what Victor was saying might have been true, I'd never heard of a pair bond the way that Lissa and I had. I missed out on a bunch of classes, but I'd never once heard of a guardian being bonded to their charge. They stayed through a sense of duty, just like they did now. As far as I was concerned, nobody had a relationship like Lissa and me.

"It would be a shame to let that go to waste." Belikov spoke this time, and it seemed like he was trying to convince Croft into reversing the decision. "There is no doubt that Vasilisa needs the best guardians available to her. Rosemarie would be an ideal candidate."

"Be that as it may," Croft growled. "She has been expelled from the academy. Even if that were reversed, she's missed a full two years of training. How is she supposed to catch up on that?"

"Perhaps one of the guardians on campus would be willing to put in the extra time." It was a valid suggestion, but it sounded like he was grasping at straws.

"And which guardian would that be? You?" Belikov opened his mouth as if to speak again, but promptly shut it. "I didn't think so."

"When we apprehended them, Rosemarie was willing to take on a team of six fully trained guardians to protect her Moroi. That sort of dedication is rare, in novices just as much as trained guardians. Most would turn and run against better odds. Instead, she stood her ground. She lost, but she fought. That dedication, paired with the bond, would make her unstoppable if trained properly. Besides, with dhampir numbers so low, we can't risk forcing a guardian out who truly wants the role. Especially a girl."

The end of his impassioned speech seemed to have struck a cord and sent the entire office spiraling into silence once again. Female dhampirs didn't normally spend their lives being guardians; a good deal of them split off to raise their own families, furthering the race and bringing forth a new generation of guardians. Some of them even earned reputations giving blood during the act, earning all dhampir women the title of blood whore unless they were guardians. When nobody spoke against him, Belikov went on. "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential – "

"Wild and disrespectful?" I interrupted. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help?"

"Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now." Croft answered sharply. "Her sanctioned guardian."

"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. Most Moroi had either Russian or Romanian lineage, and using his nationality against him was a low blow. If my words had any impact on him, he hid it behind a perfectly emotionless mask.

"Rose!" Lissa hissed. I crossed my arms and stared straight ahead.

"She might be wild and disrespectful," Belikov repeated firmly. "If she has potential, then it should not be wasted."

"Even if there was a loophole – which I'm not saying there is – she would be ages behind the other novices." Croft sat back down behind his desk, opening the file he had on the surface. His eyes scanned the pages a few times before he looked up again. "Destruction of property. Running away. Breaking curfew. Acting out in class. Cutting class. With as much as she's missed, there's no way she'll be up to graduate on time."

"Then give her extra training sessions." He made it seem like the most logical solution in the world, and maybe it was. It was the only way to make up for lost time – time that was lost because the guardians at the academy didn't do their jobs – and I needed to graduate on time in order to protect Lissa the way I needed to.

"Who's going to put in the extra time? You?" Croft's sudden question shut Belikov up, and for the first time in our brief knowing of each other, he seemed to stammer.

"Well, that's not what I – "

"Yes, that's what I thought." Croft cut him off with simply crossing his arms across his broad chest and a hard gaze across the desk. Belikov's posture got impossibly straighter as he clasped one of his hands behind his back.

"Yes." The word was tight and I almost didn't believe I heard it. "I will take put in the extra time. I am Vasilisa's guardian, and Rosemarie will be an ideal candidate to guard her after graduation. I can put in the time now to see that she is trained correctly."


End file.
